The War on Drugs released their first live album, Live Drugs, in 2020. Now, the Adam Granduciel-led band is back with a follow-up live album, aptly titled Live Drugs Again, due on September 13th via Super High Quality Records. Today, alongside the album’s announcement, a live cut of their 2014 song “Burning” has arrived as the lead single.
With a 11-song tracklist drawing from several of their studio albums, Live Drugs Again was recorded between February 2022 and December 2023 at shows in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia.
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Speaking about the album, Granduciel said, “Live Drugs Again chronicles the evolution of these songs from the studio to stages all over the world; documenting our continued growth as a live band. This series ensures that these versions, and some of our favorite moments on stage, will live on.”
To that end, Granduciel highlighted a few differences between Live Drugs Again and its predecessor, Live Drugs. For starters, The War on Drugs’ fifth studio album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, arrived in 2021, giving the band new material to explore in a live setting. “I knew these songs were lending themselves to the live environment in a way that our other material hadn’t,” Granduciel explained.
Beyond that, Granduciel states that the band grew as people between the 2020 release and now. “A lot of lives changed in four years,” he said. “We’ve been doing this for a long time — we’re older, we have families. So when we get on the road, the only two hours that matter are when we’re on stage, playing these songs for people. I try to live in that moment pretty intensely.”
Upon arriving on September 13th, Live Drugs Again will be available on 2xLP vinyl, with 666 copies being pressed onto a special edition transparent blue vinyl. These 666 copies will then be “mixed in at random with no external signifiers and potentially available at all points of purchase,” according to a press release. Later this year, the album will become available on standard vinyl and CD formats. Pre-orders are ongoing.
Up next, The War on Drugs will support Live Drugs Again with the “Zen Diagram Tour,” co-headlined by The National, with support from Lucius. The tour will kick off on September 12th in Gilford, New Hampshire, after which it’ll make stops in cities like New York, Toronto, Seattle, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and more. Grab tickets here.
Live Drugs Again Artwork:
Live Drugs Again Tracklist:
01. Harmonia’s Dream
02. Burning
03. Old Skin
04. Come to the City
05. I Don’t Wanna Wait
06. Pain
07. Slow Ghost
08. In Chains
09. Living Proof
10. Under the Pressure
11. I Don’t Live Here Anymore